Dodan! oneshot
by zeron251
Summary: Shotaro is new to Ikebukuro, but he's lucky to have his friends Maka and Oshiruko to help him transition. Meanwhile, a serial killer wanders the streets of Tokyo. Takes place in the Baccano/ Durarara! universe.
Dodan!

"So, essentially, I'm fucked until I get my fine paid! Isn't that crazy?" Babbled a very excited 16 year old. This boy was very energetic, as if someone pumped coffee and energy drinks directly into his bloodstream. People would describe him as being, "the life of the party" or, "damn annoying." Usually the latter, though he wouldn't care if the former was true in the first place. Oshiruko Tokijima was the guy you wanted to be around if you were looking a good time. . . or a trip to the Police Station "I just feel like that kid had it coming to him! I mean, who does he even think he is, talking to us like that? Hey! Are you listening?" Oshiruko kept yammering on. The boy next to him might as well be his Bizarro Superman, because they're polar opposites. He was lanky, not very athletic in the least, and mostly timid towards people he didn't know. Yep, Shotaro Takayama was the guy you typically would want to hang around with if you're looking to sit around and read manga. He also happens to be this story's protagonist. Shotaro moved to Ikebukuro the couple months ago from a small town in the Saitama Prefecture in Japan. Ikebukuro is the entertainment district in Tokyo, where you can find the coolest- and strangest- things you can think of, from comic and book stores to gay bars that run twenty-four hours a day. Ikebukuro was also where the main Yakuza branch operated out of, and there's always some kind of gang out in the streets. "Yeah, I'm listening, Oshi. Why do you get yourself into these kind of situations?" Shotaro asked rather shyly. Ikebukuro got dangerous the later you were out, as the same for any city, town, or village, but being out at the later hours of the evening just made Shotaro want to squeal in fear. He was very timid, and why he got mixed up with Oshiruko, he and nobody else will ever really know. They had a few other friends, of course, and one of them had a little more in common with Shotaro than the others. "I agree with Shotaro-kun." A small, yet almost angry voice said from Oshiruko's left. Maka Orihara was strange for the kind of girl she is. She was shy like Shotaro, but still had a commanding aura about her, as if her voice was pleading but her eyes were piercing you with a blade. Part of this stems from the "disorder" that she says she has. Ever since Maka was little, she had anger problems, and those problems led to some nasty accidents. Whenever she would get angry, Maka seemed to have inhuman strength, She found this out when she broke a kid's arm like a plastic toy, like it was nothing. She didn't know why it happened, but she has a difficulty making friends because of it. When put in an extreme situation, like a fight or a sporting event, the brain releases adrenaline in small doses; however, Maka's brain doesn't work the same way. Her brain doesn't know the correct doses of adrenaline her body needs to get through a situation, and therefore the brain is always pumping it out. "Oh, really? Well, I don't really 're only here because you have that insane strength of yours!" Sneered Oshiruko. Oshiruko wasn't one for listening to other people's opinions, and that was extremely aggravating to Maka and Shotaro. "Oh, really?" Maka started, "Well, I'm not such a big fan of you either, Yakuza wanna be! If I had my way, you'd be in prison for all the shit you pull! Baka (Idiot)!" Maka was fuming. It wasn't good to get her angry. Everyone knew that, yet Oshiruko did anything he could just to get a reaction out of her. "Guys. . . I think we should get going, " Shotaro intervened, "It's getting late, and I don't think you guys should be fighting! Come on, I want to go home! Ikebukuro gets dangerous at night!" "Shut up, Shotaro!" Maka and Oshiruko both shouted in unison. "What did you call me, you freak? I'm an idiot, huh?" Oshiruko snarled at her. Before she could even think of a reply, Oshiruko was at her. Throwing a right hook, Oshiruko unleashed his frustration at her, but Maka side stepped to the to the left, Oshiruko's punch whizzing past her blonde tips. It was time for Maka to retaliate. She gritted her teeth, pulling her arm back and sprung herself forward. If this was an anime, the kanji for "death" would be the only thing Oshiruko could see. He couldn't move out of the way in time, and there was a crunching noise as Maka's fist connected with Oshiruko's sternum. The impact was enough to knock the wind of his lungs, but he didn't have time to gasp for air; he went flying into the concrete wall of a building all the way across the street from where the trio was standing. Grumbling, MAka stormed off, presumingly towards her house in Shinjuku. Shinjuku was more safe at night than Ikebukuro was, but it still made Shotaro nervous that Maka was going to be walking all the way to Shinjuku all by herself. "Hey, Maka, I'll walk you home!" Shotaro called out to her as she was walking away, and she came to an abrupt stop to wait for him. He caught up to her and they began walking off, leaving Oshiruko to collect himself from off the Sunshine 60 building wall.

Meanwhile, in West Ikebukuro, a dark scene presented itself. Laughing deviantly, almost child like, a man, cloaked in shadows, a blade hanging limply at his side, admired his work. The cuts were precise, deep, and the work of a true artist. Yes, Shinichiro Araki was a true artist. What was it about cutting that made him so alive? Breathing heavily, he rose his blade into the air and brought it back down. He loved to hear his victims scream, not that it mattered; this young girl was already dead. The sound of the blade piercing her flesh, the way the crimson liquid oozed out of the wound. To Shinichiro, there was nothing better. "Yes. Yes," He he breathed silently, almost a moan of pleasure, "This blood! This body! Oh, it turns me on so!" He screamed, but caught himself. He had to be quiet. It's not like he was in a warehouse or anything. He was in an alleyway, where he'd been stalking this girl for a few hours before bringing the blade down. How she screamed as he cut her! He had her all over him, her stench. He didn't even know who she was, just that she looked so easy to cut. "Cut, cut, cut, cut , cut, cut, kill kill kill kill kill kill kill. . . ." He found himself murmuring. Yes, he had to kill more. He needed to kill more. That's what drives him. Killing is like a fine piece of art, or a nice cuisine. Shinichiro loved it, craved it. He didn't care who he killed, or where, or even how, though he prefered high school students and a nice sharp blade; the size of the blade didn't matter. With a devious laugh he took into the warm May night, the cherry blossom petals falling all around him as he walked out of the alley, out on the the sidewalk, and into Ikebukuro Westgate Park and past the Ikefukuro statue. How symbolic, he thought, the petals falling is like nature's art, just like how he made art with his blade. The real question is: Who does he kill next? A boy? Girl? What's their height? Weight? Do they dye their hair? What kind of cologne or perfume do they wear? The thought made him feel so aroused. With his cunning, he will keep on. With his blade, he will make art. Ikebukuro was like a playground for him. So many interesting people, all of them with an artery in their neck, just waiting to be cut.

The next day, Raika Academy was booming with the news of a young girl's death. The kids in Shotaro's homeroom were gossiping the news; some sulking, some crying. Some were just taking in the information that was presented to them. "A murder," Shotaro muttered to himself quietly, "I guess it's not surprising, but I never thought it would be someone I knew." Shotaro was in had never known somebody who was murdered before, and the event that a lot of take in. He could hold solace in the fact that he wasn't the only one who felt this way. Oshiruko seemed to be acting strangely that day, too. It was out of character for Oshiruko to be feeling so down about anything, even if one of his friends got murdered. Shotaro could recall when Oshi's dad died. It didn't seem to affect him at all. He kept was fun and hyper demeanor as if nothing had happen. Maybe two deaths in such a short time finally got to the poor guy. Maybe that's why he acted up all the time; he was depressed. Shotaro dismissed that thought at once. Oshiruko depressed? It didn't seem likely. He's known Oshiruko since they never children, even before Shotaro moved to this crazy town. The day Oshiruko says he's depressed will be the day that Shotaro picks up a basketball.  
"Hey, Oshi, are you alright?" Shotaro walked up to him, a blanket of concern covered his face. Oshiruko looked up at him. Oshiruko's head had a bandage wrapped around the top, no doubt from where his head hit that building last night, and he looked sore; probably because of the punch that Maka unleashed against his sternum. "Yeah, I'm fine. Anyway, you wanna go get some ice cream or something tonight? We can even bring Maka if you want. I need something to do later." Oshiruko babbled on, as if nothing was bothering him. It was unusual that he wanted to bring Maka along. They didn't get along very well and the only reason Maka ever came was because Shotaro asked her. This murder must really be messing with the poor guy. "Uh, sure, we can go do something tonight." Shotaro accepted with a smile on his face. It was hard to smile today, so it was good to have something to look forward to after school. "Awesome! Meet me at West Ikebukuro Station at 6PM tonight. Bring Maka." Oshiruko said with a smile, but Shotaro could tell when Oshiruko was on edge. Oshiruko was going to do something reckless, he knew it, but just what, he didn't know. Hopefully nothing too reckless. Oshiruko would probably go off to jail if he did anything else juvenile. At 5:30 Shotaro left his house in Eastern Ikebukuro to get Maka from her house. She lived all the way in Shinjuku, so he would have to get on the subway after he met with Oshiruko. Hopefully he wouldn't mind making the trip to Shinjuku; Oshiruko loved to complain about the little things like subway rides and traffic, even though he didn't even have a car. Out his his house, down 60 Kai Street, past Sunshine 60, and to Ikebukuro Seibu Station (Seibu = East).  
Shotaro carried a pocket knife for protection since that Ikebukuro wasn't safe and guns were outlawed in Japan, though the Yakuza and some other gangs seemed to have no trouble finding them. There was an incident back in 1995 at Shibuya Station, Shotaro seemed to recall, Apparently it was some cult that killed 13 people with a chemical called sazin, and 4,000 people were injured. The leader was arrested and sentenced to death, but was still alive due to the fact that his execution date kept being pushed back. The thought of that incident made Shotaro shiver. There are a lot of anti gang laws in Japan, too, so the Yakuza can't hurt citizens, but they were still frightening. There are over 20 different sub groups of the Yakuza scattered throughout Tokyo, not just Ikebukuro, so nowhere was really safe to Shotaro, "I don't know what I'd do if I was jumped out here," he said to himself quickly. To say that Shotaro was timid may have been an was pulled out of his thoughts pretty fast when he heard a familiar teasing laugh. "'I don't know what I'd do if I got jumped out here'," teased Oshiruko, his face going red from laughing so hard, "Man, that's great! Did you even notice that you're at the station now? No one's going to jump you here, weeb.  
"I don't even have words to describe how much of a wimp you are! I mean, I knew you were an otaku(nerd, geek), but man, this is just hilarious!" Oshiruko kept going for about 5 minutes as they boarded a train for Shinjuku.  
"Hey, Oshi-kun, what was up at school today?" Shotaro peeped out of nowhere. Oshiruko wasn't himself at school that day. Usually he was loud, annoying, and completely unforgiving to whoever he chose to torment that day, which was usually Shotaro or Maka. "W-what, that was nothing! Don't worry about it!" Oshiruko retorted almost instantly. He had a funny look on his face as he said it, though, as though he was lying. Shotaro knew he was lying. Oshiruko always gets flustered like that whenever someone calls him out. Oshiruko shoved his hands into his pockets and slugged off the train, Shotaro behind him. They just had to get Maka from her place and then they were off to figuratively, and literally for Oshiruko, terrorize the neighborhood.

He's been tailing them since they got on the train. Those two boys, he knew, were high school students. He had to keep quiet and a decent distance from them. He didn't want to spoil his fun by killing them too soon and the thought of a third student joining them made him feel extremely aroused. Shinichiro needed them. All three of them. . . One was loud and obnoxious; he was going to kill that one first, His voice made Shinichiro's head hurt. The quiet one won't put up much of a fight. He was too lanky and timid to fight him off. Who was the third student that they were going to meet up with? A boy? A girl? Maybe a cross were always fascinating to him. He chuckled lowly and continued to follow them down the street, the empty, quiet street. They talked about all sorts of things; girls, grades, why the loud mouthed one doesn't want to see someone, the usual for high school students. Shinichiro had heard these conversations a thousand times over. The loud mouthed one was teasing the quiet one about something. Why would he put up with that? Shinichiro didn't like that the quiet one wasn't saying anything back. If he was the quiet one, the loud mouthed boy would've got punched, or kicked, or stabbed. . .  
"Konbanwa, Sho-kun, Oshi-chan." someone said to them. It was a girl. She was still in her school uniform, like that was the only outfit she owned. She was cute, She looked quiet like the other boy, but she handled herself differently. She had long blonde hair wrapped in a pony tail. It was strange for Japanese girls to dye their hair, but it wasn't unheard of. Shinichiro liked it. It would clash brilliantly with the color of her blood. . .

"D-do you just wear your school uniform all the time?" Oshiruko asked, his jaw dropping as Maka walked up to them. Shotaro was wondering the same thing. Why did she always wear her school uniform? Was it a pride thing, like how Americans all wear shirts to show off their muscles? "I was wondering why you guys weren't wearing your school uniforms. Doesn't everyone wear them?" Maka replied. They were dumbfounded. Maka had a kind of innocence to her, they could almost forget that Maka could break their ribs with a single punch. "You're screwing with us, right?" Shotaro and Oshiruko asked in unison, as though they'd never felt so confused in their life. Surely she couldn't have thought that everyone wore their school uniform all the time. "No, I'm not screwing with you guys!" Maka cried out. Her face was flushing with color. This was a new face for Shotaro and Oshiruko; they'd never seen her embarrassed. It's always been calm or downright angry. "Alright, alright, it's just some light teasing Maka-chan!" Oshiruko laughed, "Anyway, let's get some ice cream and maybe go do graffiti on the Sunshine 60 building in Ikebukuro!"  
"NO!" Maka and Shotaro screamed in unison. "Ice cream is fine, Oshi, but we can't do grafitti, let alone on the Sunshine 60 building!" Shotaro bellowed, much too loud for Maka and Oshiruko's taste. "Fine, we'll just get ice cream and go to the park to hang then." Oshiruko yawned, walking down the street to the next gas station he could find.

They were off and Shinichiro was close behind them. They still didn't notice him! This was great. As far as they could tell, he could just be some man who just happened to be going the same route as them. He licked his lips at the complete lack of attention of the environment that high school students had. "I might as well wait for them to eat their ice cream. It'll be their last meal. . ." "I need to kill them. I need to kill them. I need to kill them." He kept muttering that phrase to himself. It made him feel powerful, energetic, and more importantly, aroused. He craved the feeling of being covered in another's blood. He reveled in the idea of it. Ever since he was a child, he loved the feeling he got from killing; it was animals at first. Cats, dogs, insects, raccoons, even a tsushima cat when he went to Okinawa once when he was 10. At the age of 15 he killed his first human victim, his homeroom teacher. He hated that bitch. It was the perfect crime. No one ever suspected the quiet, timid kid in the class. He followed her home one night and stabbed her to death. He took the knife with him and he wore gloves so he didn't leave fingerprints. Ever since he killed his teacher, he killed almost on a monthly basis to space out the deaths. He went after his enemies, and to draw away suspicion, he would make sure to kill random people in between. Of course, Tokyo is a big city, so it would be difficult to capture every criminal. He used those odds to his advantage. He hadn't been caught once; if he was caught he would kill himself. Why should he go to jail? He's cleaning up the streets. He's reducing the population. In his eyes, he's not doing anything wrong. "My knives will taste blood soon. . . soon. . ."

They walked out of the gas station, each holding a tube of ice cream. Maka with milk flavor, Oshiruko with Octopus, and Shotaro with black cherry, They turned the corner over to an alley and walked down, eating their tubes and chattering away, not knowing of what's to come in just a few moments. . .  
Screech "What was that?" Oshiruko asked, alert. That noise couldn't have been from an animal.  
Screech "I don't know, but it's getting closer!" Shotaro stammered, tensing up. Whoosh! An arm whizzed past them, attached to it a knife, a foot long and serrated. "Damn, I missed!" Shinichiro roared. His eyes were full of bloodlust. He was raring for a murder,  
"Shit, let's get out of here!" Oshiruko screamed. Maka and Shotaro ran after him, Shinichiro was close behind them, swinging his knife wildly. "Shit! Dead end!" Oshiruko bit himself in the ass for taking a route that ended in a figurative and literal brick wall. "Damn it! Why does shit always happen to me? Well, time to get us out of this shit!" Oshiruko thought to himself as Shinichiro's knife came swinging from the right, so naturally he dodged to the left, following up with an uppercut to Shinichiro's jaw. "Do you think this is the first time someone's tried to stab me, fucker? Maka, Shotaro! RUN!" Oshiruko yelled, dodging knife swings and lunges. Oshiruko had little room for error. If he fails to move even once, he'll die. This was by far the scariest and thrilling experience in his young life. "Got it!" Maka nodded to Oshiruko, who was too busy to notice. Maka grabbed Shotaro by the hand and ran between the crazed man and a wall. "Oshiruko, please be safe. . ."

Shinichiro opened up his jacket and pulled yet another knife out, now swinging both rapidly and efficiently. Oshiruko had absolutely no room for error now. Around from the left, down from above the knives came. Oshiruko acted fast and swiftly dodged the knife coming from the left and rolled between Shinichiro's legs and come out behind him and kick him in the back of his knees, Shinichiro let out an ungodly scream and fell to his knees, giving Oshiruko a chance to run. Oshiruko took off down the alley towards the end they came in through; there was no sign of Maka and Shotaro. Good. They needed to get out of there. "Yes, maybe I can get out with my-" There was a sharp pain in his back, worse than he ever felt. He collapsed abruptly, landing on his front side. He tried to let out what sounded like a cry or a chuckle, but all that came out was blood. "So, this is what dying feels like. . . Not bad." Oshiruko whispered to himself. Maka and Shotaro came running back down to Oshiruko. "I thought I told you to run, you. . . dumbasses." Oshiruko whispered to Shotaro. Oshiruko looked like he was at peace. He laughed at their stupidity once again, and more blood came pouring out of his mouth. "Oshi, don't speak, please. You're gonna live, okay?" Shotaro assured him. He looked up at Maka, who looked at Shinichiro down the alleyway. He was touching himself to Oshiruko's dying figure. Maka looked furious. Their best friend was dying and he was touching himself! With an ager that she didn't even know she had, she burst towards him. It looked as though the pavement under he feet cracked as she took off. "Oh, more fodder for me to-" Shinichiro couldn't even finish the sentence; his skull was smashed in by the force of Maka's punch.

"Oshi, c'mon, don't die. . . please don't die. . ." Shotaro cried, sobbing tearing rolled down his face as he held his best friend in his arms. Maka came running, and for a moment they all sat with him.

"Maka, Shotaro. . . Will you hold my hand?"

Oshiruko's funeral was on a Thursday, his favorite day of the week. The attendance wasn't very high, it was just his close family, Maka and Shotaro, and a few friends from various groups of people he associated with. Everyone who spoke said the same thing about him; He was energetic, easy to fool around with, and an all around cool guy. They could save their words. Shotaro knew they were lying. No one liked Oshiruko. After they had buried the casket, Maka and Shotaro stayed there to say their final goodbyes to him. "Oshi, you were crazy, outgoing, and even though I seemed to be the third wheel a lot, you're my best friend. I love you, Oshi." Shotaro was sobbing again. Oshiruko was gone and there was no one for him to reconcile and cope with. "Shotaro," Maka said quietly under her tears, "Don't you dare think that you're alone. He'll be with us." Maka grabbed Shotaro's hand and they walked away from his grave.

END

Author's Notes

This was the hardest narrative I've ever had to write. Originally, This was going to end with Shotaro dying, and I thought, "No, he needs to live." It was actually really hard writing those last 3 or 4 pages, because I knew that as soon as I introduced Oshiruko that he had to die. He had to redeem himself for his past behavior. Dying for his friends is the best way he could, and I think that this is the happiest ending that he could've got. This is for you, bud. Hopefully you're spraying graffiti in heaven. As for Shotaro and Maka, I'd like to think they're coping the best they can. Thanks for reading. Also, sorry if thing's seem bunched up. This is my first time using this website.


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